Skip to main content
College of Education 
Media and Education Technology Resource Center

Teaching Online

Teaching Online: Helpful Technology Tools

NC State and the College of Education provide different technology tools that can help you teach online. First consider your teaching scenario/needs/pedagogical goals:

–>Synchronous Teaching – live lectures, live class discussions, real-time teaching
–>Asynchronous Teaching – recorded content, existing video content, questioning via discussion boards, discussions using commenting tools, turning in assignments, feedback via recording or text, etc.

This page includes suggested tools, tips, and resources for synchronous and asynchronous teaching – scroll to find the type of teaching you need to learn more about.

Considerations for Equity

Please remember that in online teaching, particularly synchronous sessions, students may not all have the same access to devices and internet connections. Consider surveying students to find out their technology access – include questions related to broadband/speed of access/connectivity and device types available to them i.e. laptop, tablet, smartphone.

Quick Help/PD Links

Synchronous Teaching: Getting Started with Zoom

Zoom Scheduling a Session

Directions on how to schedule a synchronous class session in Zoom via Moodle or the Google Calendar/Email.

Step-by-Step Directions 

Start your Meeting

In Moodle, select the “Start” button by clicking on the Zoom session you have added.
In Zoom, log in to ncsu.zoom.us and then under “Upcoming Meetings” find the right class session that you’ve scheduled and select “Start”

Audio/Video Test Information 

Zoom Meeting Controls

Basics on controlling audio and participant control.

Video Overview 

Advanced Features: Teaching with Zoom

Recording your Session

Your students may not all be able to attend synchronously. Record the session to later post to Moodle or otherwise share with students. NOTE: You can also select “audio transcript” which will create a transcript to go along with the recording.

Video and Directions 

Screen Sharing

Use screen sharing to share a presentation i.e. PowerPoint or Slides with your viewers or to teach them how to do something, show them where to access an assignment in Moodle, etc. Your students/participants will see what you are doing on your screen in real-time. If you choose the correct settings, you can also have participants share if you are having students do presentations or if a student can show others how to do something.

Video and Directions 

Interactive Features of Zoom

To have students interact during your instruction, use these features:
Chatting
Participant Nonverbal Interactions
Polling
Whiteboarding/Screen Annotation

List of Features and Directions 

Breakout Rooms

Students can work in small groups to start on a project, discuss content, do a collaborative activity, etc. during your Zoom session. You can move between groups to monitor and provide guidance. Consider having a take-away or accountability document/report-out as part of your Breakout Room use.

Breakout Room Tips 

ASYNCHRONOUS TEACHING

Tools

Many different technology tools are available to help with asynchronous teaching.
Moodle has built-in and embedded features including discussion boards, completion tracking, interactive modules through H5P, interactive video through Playposit, and more.
The technology tools page below includes many different technology tools as well as ideas for usage. You can also contact METRC staff to arrange tutorials, instructional sessions, consultations on planning lessons, and so on.
Highlighted digital tools that are particularly helpful are listed below.

Technology Tools Page 
Sharing Through Mobile Phones

Moodle & Video Capture

The University provides Moodle support and video capture of lessons, instruction, etc. through DELTA. Video capture at the university that can be added to Moodle is recommended through Mediasite or Zoom although there are many other free tools. Here are some specific links for Moodle features/tools that can enhance online teaching and video capture information:

Playposit

Playposit is a tool that allows you to add interactions to video content (that you’ve recorded or uploaded from a source like YouTube or Vimeo). The interactions include multiple-choice questions, open-ended questions, polling, additional content to read, and more. It is a core tool that can be accessed from within Moodle or independently of Moodle.

If you are using Playposit to make a lecture interactive, first record the lecture and then add it to YouTube, Vimeo or Mediasite. NOTE: You can record directly into Mediasite at NC State.

Asynchronous Tools for Discussion/Student voice

alt=""

Flipgrid

This social learning tool allows you and your students to have discussions, reflection, and communicate at different times from many different voices thorough audio and video. It is not connected to Moodle but easy to use. Students can use their current Google account to log in to Flipgrid and you can easily create an educator account at flipgrid.com to set up topics, boards of topics, etc. for students to use for response. The “Help Center” will guide you through getting started in Flipgrid. Higher Ed Use Cases/Ideas include: conducting observations & experiments at home, offering messages of encouragement to peers, fostering community, reflecting/responding to a video, and more.

Flipgrid Getting Started 
alt=""

VoiceThread

This collaborative slideshow web-based tool can be used to foster discussion/comments around images or videos. Students and instructors can comment on a series of images, quotations, short videos and more. They can also thread discussions to connect with each others.

VoiceThread can also be used to record a slideshow by adding audio to each individual slide. This can be used by instructors for lecture or by students for presentations. The College of Education pays for an account – see the METRC page on the intranet for access information and the link below for more details on using VoiceThread

VoiceThread Details 
alt=""

Playposit Discussion Board

Playposit is a tool that allows you to add interactions to video content (that you’ve recorded or uploaded from a source like YouTube or Vimeo). The interactions include multiple-choice questions, open-ended questions, polling, additional content to read, and more.

To enhance student voice, an instructor can also add a time-stamped discussion board for students to run a threaded discussion alongside video content. Their comments/online discussion can be used to track understanding, respond to questions asked in a lecture, etc. Basic instructions for Playposit in and out of Moodle are above. This link will specifically guide you to use of the discussion board.

Playposit Discussion Board 

Getting Content Online

alt=""

Scanning: In-Person & Remote

If you are scanning remotely, there are many mobile apps that do excellent scanning and create PDFs of your files.

NOTE: With an Android device, you can scan directly into Google Drive from the Google Drive Mobile App and then the + button and the scan/camera button.

Search your app store for: Microsoft OfficeLens, JotNot Pro, Scanbot Pro

The NC State Libraries provides a variety of distance scanning services.

Please remember it is your responsibility as an instructor to follow copyright law. We have high-speed scanners for multi-page documents and a book scanner that can save PDFs of documents directly to your Google Drive to then be added to Moodle.

Textbook Chapter Scanning 

eBooks & Databases

METRC and the NC State Libraries provides access to eBooks. If an eBook you are interested in is not available, contact METRC staff (cedmediacenter@ncsu.edu) to see if it can be added to a collection. The NC State libraries collection can be searched through the standard library catalog at lib.ncsu.edu. Databases can also be found here and used for research, finding articles for students to read online, etc.

METRC’s ebook services include Overdrive, MackinVia, Tumblebooks and BigUniverse

METRC eBook Access